Trailer for balancing vehicle

ABSTRACT

A trailer for a dynamically balanced transporter that allows leaning of the transporter such as for control of the combination of transporter and trailer. The trailer has a platform and an arm with two ends, one of which ends is coupled to the platform and the other of which is pivotally coupled about a horizontal axis to the transporter. The trailer has a ground-contacting member that may be a wheel, or a ski or a skid. A locking mechanism may lock the pivot in response to a fault condition. The platform of the trailer may support a rider in a seated or standing position and may have a characteristic transverse linear dimension comparable to the shoulder width of the rider.

[0001] The present application is a divisional application of copendingapplication Ser. No. 09/516,384, Attorney's Docket No. 1062/C24,“Trailer for a Balancing Vehicle,” filed Mar. 1, 2000, which isincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present invention pertains to trailers that may be attachedto a balancing vehicle, and more particularly, to an attachmentmechanism that permits tilting action of the balancing vehicle.

BACKGROUND ART

[0003] Vehicles for transportation of individual persons may providestabilization in one or both of the fore-aft or left-right planes, suchas when no more than two wheels are in ground contact at a time.Vehicles of this sort may be operated in a mode in which motion of thevehicle, including acceleration (both linear and turning), is controlledpartially or entirely by leaning of the vehicle as caused by a subjectriding the vehicle. Vehicles whose stability with respect to fore-aftoverturning is substantially affected by the orientation of the user onthe vehicle will be referred to as “dynamically balanced” vehicles forpurposes of this description and any appended claims. One such vehicleis shown in FIG. 1, while various other such vehicles are described inU.S. Pat. No. 5,971,091, and U.S. application Ser. No. 09/325,976, whichpatent and application are both incorporated herein by reference.

[0004]FIG. 1 shows a prior art personal transporter, designatedgenerally by numeral 18, that lacks static stability and that balancesduring the course of ordinary operation. A subject 10 stands on asupport platform 12 and holds a grip 14 on a handle 16 attached to theplatform 12, so that vehicle 18 may be operated in a manner analogous toa scooter. A control loop may be provided so that leaning of the subjectresults in the application of torque to wheel 20 about axle 22 therebycausing an acceleration of the vehicle. Vehicle 18 may have one or moreyaw controls 28, such as a thumbwheel or thumb dial, for example, toenable subject 10 to steer the vehicle about a vertical axis zperpendicular to the plane defined by the direction of motion x and atransverse axis y.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] In accordance with preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, there is provided a trailer for a dynamically balancedtransporter that has a support and an attachment housing coupled to thesupport. The trailer has a platform and an arm with two ends, one ofwhich ends is coupled to the platform and the other of which ispivotally coupled about a horizontal axis to the attachment housing.Finally, the trailer has a ground-contacting member coupled to theplatform.

[0006] In accordance with alternate embodiments of the invention, theground-contacting member may be a wheel or a ski or a skid. The trailermay further have a locking mechanism for locking the pivot in responseto a stabilization fault condition.

[0007] In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there isprovided a rider support trailer for a dynamically balanced transporterhaving a support and an attachment coupled to the support. The ridersupport trailer has a base having a bottom side and a top side and apivot coupled to the base for permitting motion of the base about ahorizontal axis with respect to the support of the transporter. Therider support trailer also has a ground-contacting member coupled to thebottom side of the base and a substantially vertical support columncoupled to the top surface of the base, and a rider support that may bea seat coupled to the support column.

[0008] In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, theplatform of a trailer for supporting a user in a standing position mayhave a characteristic transverse linear dimension substantiallycomparable to the shoulder width of the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] The invention will be more readily understood by reference to thefollowing description, taken with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0010]FIG. 1 is a side view of a prior art dynamically balancing vehicleof the type in which an embodiment of the invention may beadvantageously employed;

[0011]FIG. 2 is a side view of a trailer pivotably coupled to adynamically balancing vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention;

[0012]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the trailer of FIG. 2;

[0013]FIG. 4 shows a side view of a trailer coupled to a dynamicallybalancing vehicle by means of a pivot disposed rearward of the supportplatform of the vehicle in accordance with other embodiments of theinvention; and

[0014]FIGS. 5a and 5 b show bottom views of a trailer coupled to adynamically balancing vehicle by means of a scissors linkage enablingthe trailer to follow the balancing vehicle in a tight turn, inaccordance with another embodiment of the invention;

[0015]FIG. 6a is a top view of a two-wheeled trailer coupled to adynamically balancing vehicle at a ball joint;

[0016]FIG. 6b is a top view of a one-wheeled trailer coupled to adynamically balancing vehicle at a universal joint; and

[0017]FIG. 6c shows a schematic view of multiple trailers drawn by asingle dynamically balancing vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

[0018] Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, a side and perspective view areshown, respectively, of one embodiment of a trailer, designatedgenerally by the numeral 30, that may be attached to a dynamicallybalanced personal transporter, designated generally by numeral 32.Trailer 30 is coupled to transporter 32 at an attachment housing 34 thatis, in turn, fixedly coupled to support 12 of the transporter.

[0019] In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, trailer 30 has an arm36 pivotally attached, at pivot end 37, to the attachment housing 34 andcapable of rotating about a pivot axis 38 which is horizontal andperpendicular to the fore/aft-vertical plane (i.e., the plane of thepaper in FIG. 2). In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, arm 36 is shaped toavoid contact with support 12 when the rear edge 40 of the support isrotated upward in response to the rider leaning forward on thetransporter. The opposite end, referred to herein as the ‘container end’42, of arm 36 is attached to a container 44. Container 44 may be assimple as a flat surface capable of supporting one or more packages orbundles. In a preferred embodiment, container 44 also has walls definingan enclosed space where packages or bundles that may be of odd shapescan be secured and protected from the environment during transportationby transporter 32.

[0020] In another embodiment of the invention, container 44 alsoincludes a cover 50 (shown in FIG. 3) that covers the enclosed space ofthe container. The cover 50 may be completely detectable from container44, or, alternatively, the cover may be hinged to a wall of thecontainer. In a further embodiment, cover 50 may be locked to provideadditional security for the contents of the container. FIG. 3 shows anembodiment wherein the container comprises two enclosed and coveredspaces.

[0021] Container 44 is supported by at least one ground contactingmember 46. In a preferred embodiment, the ground contacting member is awheel. In a further embodiment, wheel 46 can swivel about a verticalaxis 48 in response to turns made by the transporter 32. In yet anotherembodiment, the ground contacting member may be a ski.

[0022] Referring now to FIG. 4, a side view is shown of anotherembodiment of the invention wherein the relative placement and orderingof the trailer components differ from those of the embodiment depictedin FIGS. 2 and 3. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, attachment housing 48 iscoupled at the rear of support 12. Attachment housing 34 extends beyondthe rear edge of support 12 and is pivotally connected to the trailerbase 60 at a pivot 62. Base 62 is supported by a ground-contactingmember 46 which, in a preferred embodiment, is a wheel capable ofswiveling about vertical axis 48. A support column 64 is fixedlyattached to base 60 and supports a seat 66 that may support a passengerin a seated position while minimizing the effect of the trailer 30 onthe leaning or tilting of the transporter 32. In a further embodiment ofthe present invention, support column 64 may also support containers orother payloads.

[0023] During normal operation, the pivot 62 remains free to pivot inthe fore/aft-vertical plane. Pivot 62 allows transporter 32 to retainthe control characteristics of a two-wheeled dynamically stabilizedvehicle even though the transporter/trailer combination may bestatically stable. In a fault condition where transporter 32 loses theability to maintain dynamic stability, pivot 62 may be locked, byactuation of a solenoid, for example, in such a manner as to preventtrailer 30 from tipping forward and transporter 32 from tippingbackward. The lock mechanism may be activated, in accordance withvarious embodiments of the invention, by a control signal or by powerfailure. The implementation of the pivot lock and activation of the lockis well known to one of ordinary skill in the mechanical art.

[0024] Alternate embodiments of the invention employ a scissors linkageas depicted in the bottom view shown in FIGS. 5a and 5 b. Referringfirst to FIG. 5a, trailer 30 is, again, coupled to transporter 32, wheretransporter 32 is preferably a dynamically balancing vehicle. Couplingto transporter 32 may be by means of hitch 70 which pivots abouthorizontal (pitch) axis 72 to allow leaning of the transporter. In theembodiment shown in FIGS. 5a and 5 b, trailer 30 rides on a singletrailer wheel 74, however trailers with additional wheels or otherground-contacting elements, such as skids, for example, are within thescope of the present invention. Trailer wheel 74 pivots about a vertical(yaw) axis 76 to allow it to track as the transporter executes turns.Scissor linkage 78 provides for steering of wheel 74 to allow for tightturns of the coupled system 80 of transporter and trailer. In fact, asdepicted in FIG. 5b, coupled system 80 of transporter 32 and trailer 30may be rotated in place, as shown by arrows 82, to the degree that wheel74 is perpendicular to line 84 connecting the center 86 of rotation axis88 of transporter 32 to vertical axis 76 of steerability of wheel 74, atwhich point coupled system 80 may turn in place.

[0025] Referring now to FIG. 6a, a bottom view is shown of a furtherembodiment of the invention in which trailer 90 has two non-casteringwheels 92 and trailer 90 is coupled to transporter 32 at ball joint 94,allowing rotation about all axes. In an alternate embodiment shown inFIG. 6b, trailer 96 is supported above the ground by a singlenon-castering wheel 98 and is coupled to transporter 32 at universaljoint 100, permitting rotation about both pitch and yaw axes. Both ofthe embodiments of FIGS. 6a and 6 b effectively decouple trailers 90 and96, respectively, from fore/aft leaning of the transporter 32, which, asdescribed above, may be used for control of the motion of the coupledsystems. A further feature of the embodiments described is that trailers90 and 96 and, more particularly, their platforms 60 (indicated in FIG.4) may be size to accommodate a person in either a standing or a seatedposition. In preferred embodiments of the invention, the platforms havea characteristic transverse linear dimension substantially comparable tothe shoulder width of a user. Since the leaning of the respectivetrailer and transporter components are effectively decoupled, apassenger standing on the trailer need merely hold onto the driver ofthe transporter in order to maintain balance. Additionally, by exertingforce on the driver of the transporter, it is possible for the passengerconveyed on the trailer to drive the coupled system.

[0026] In accordance with an alternate embodiment of the inventiondepicted schematically in FIG. 6c, multiple trailers 102 may be attachedto each other in series and drawn by a single transporter 32.

[0027] The described embodiments of the invention are intended to bemerely exemplary and numerous variations and modifications will beapparent to those skilled in the art. All such variations andmodifications are intended to be within the scope of the presentinvention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is: 1) A method for governing motion of a combination ofa dynamically balanced transporter and a trailer, the method comprising:a) coupling the trailer to the dynamically balanced transporter with apivot; b) tilting the transporter in a direction of desired motion; andc) governing motion of the combination of transporter and trailer inresponse to the tilt of the transporter. 2) A method according to claim1, wherein the trailer is a second transporter. 3) A method according toclaim 1, further including: d) coupling an additional trailer to thetrailer. 4) A method according to claim 3 wherein at least one of thetrailer and the additional trailer is a transporter. 5) A method fortowing a trailer with a transporter, the method comprising: a) couplingthe trailer to the transporter; b) propelling the transporter byactuation of a ground-contacting element; c) sensing a tilt of thetransporter; and d) maintaining the transporter in a dynamically stableposition during locomotion of the transporter and the trailer byapplying a torque to the ground-contacting element based at least inpart on the tilt of the transporter.